Mason&#39;s corner gauge



Nov. 6, 1956 s. v. WELLS 2,769,240

MASON S CORNER GAUGE Filed July 15, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 7w I 13 l2 1% I00 I "7 i f F J T W2 M Era- 1- I40 INVENTOR STAN LE Y V. WELLS ATTORNEY Nov. 6, l 956 s. v. WELLS 2,769,240

MASON'S CORNER GAUGE Filed July 13, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR STANLEY V. WELLS ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,169,240 J MAsoiss eoRNER GAUGE Stanley V. Wells Washington, D. a Application July 13, 1955, Serial No. s21,s20

acl ims. (31. 33-85) I 'The present invention relates to corner-gauges us'eful by mas'ons in the erection of the corners of buildings a It is common practice in erecting walls of a bullding or like structure with brick, stone and similar block-form members to build or raise the corners of angularly disposed walls of the structure before the main or inter; mediate wall portions are laid or erectedg and, after the corners have been built-up to a certain number of courses, the intermediate portion of the Wall is' built-up progressively'and tied in bonded relation with the corner portions, the corners always being'progressively raised ahead of the main portion of the wall until the top 15 reached. p 7

Many proposals have been made heretofore to provide a masons corner-gauge to replace the use of spirit level for plumbing and leveling the brick or blocks forming the c'ornerof'walls, but most of these are cumbersome, complicated or otherwise inefficient for the purpose, particular'ly in use with 'skeletonized structures asthey require frequent manipulation, rearrangement and/ or adjustment as the corneris progressively erected, and, if relied 'upon' too closely, produce an inaccurate or out-of-plumb cornerl The object of the invention is to'provide an extremely simple and inexpensive'masons corner gauge'that may be set in place quickly on skeletonized'steel frame-or concrete structures and with great ease over devices now in use, and can be easily adjusted in position to heights from one'story to as many stories as may be desired to meet present construction practices with great advantages -to the bricklayer or mason and, after once positioned,

may remain in place until the full height of the corner is completed; t

Other objects of the invention will be'apparent as this specification proceeds, and the invention resides in the novel construction of and the arrangement of its few and simple parts. a

A full and complete understandingzofgthe presenttim ventionfmay be had from the following; description and the, accompanying drawings, which showthe invention in theforin it is'now maiiufactured and used; and the :novel features ofthe invention are p t i 1 1te l out in the ap ended t. T In'the drawing='"' w Figure 1 is a top view of the invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the invention;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the lower end portion of the adjustable screw for holding and tensioning the gauge-line;

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the corner-gauge applied in use in connection with a skeletonized concrete or steel frame of skeletonized building structure;

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the gauge-line corner anchor plate showing its use with a cord-type gauge-line;

Figure 6 is a front edge view of the anchor plate shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a view of the anchor plate similar to Fig ure 1 but showing the manner of attaching a wire-type gauge-line thereto; and

' justed position.

ice

FigureQS is a fragmentary elevation illustrating the manner of attaching a wire-type gauge-line to the tensioning screw and the anchor plate.

Referring in detail to the drawings, in which like characters of reference refer to similar and like parts throughout the several views, the comer-gauge of the presentinvention comprises an arm 10, preferably of rigid metalbar stock having its end portions a and b offset and ex tending in spaced parallel planes, respectively,-'and its connectingintermediate portion 0 preferably extending normal to its end portions, thus providing an elevated forward projecting gauge-line supportingarm a and a rearwardly projecting base or foot b. The end of arm a has a threaded opening 10a .therethrough near its outer extremity and whose axis is normal to the plane of said arm a. The other foot portion b of the arm 10 may be of any desired length to rest upon a horizontal support or floor s of the building structure B and fixedly'held in position in any suitable manner, such, for instance,v by

- applying weighted material w thereupon (such as bags of sand and the like), placed as indicated in Figure 4 or by wedging the ends of a length of material (such as a 2 x 4, not shown) between its inner end b and the floor above, as is common practice in scaffolding and other connections. However, it is preferred to have the foot portion b 'of the arm 10 relatively short (i. e. about l8 to '24 inches long) and to provide it with a pivoted rear extension 11 having a laterally projecting threaded stud 12 at its inner end which slidably extends through an elongated slot 10b in and longitudinally of the end portion b of the arm 10, a wing nut 13 being threaded on the outer end of stud 12-to bind the parts together in ad-' A threaded rod 14' is threaded in the opening 10a of the arm 10, and has a winged upper end 14a by which'it may be adjusted relative to the end a of the arm 10. The other or lower end of the rod 14 is formed with an axially disposed bore or passage 15 therein, which ex- A gauge-line 16, preferably of nylon cord or of a steel I wire, has its upper end portion extending through the passage 15, as shown in Figure; 3, with its extremity projecting from the passage opening 1511 where it may be releasably' clamped to the rod 14 by a wooden wedge plug 17 or, when the gauge is of wire, by a nut 18 threaded on the rod 14 as shown in Fig S. The other or lower end-0f the gauge-line 16 is held in position by a plateform anchor member'l9'insertable in a mortared joint at the corner of the walls; p j

The anchor plate 19'is provided with an open-ended elongated slot 19a extending'from one'edge of the'plate inwardlyfor-adistance and with a notch or'shorter slot 19b extending substantially right-angles to and substantially.ali'gned with"the inner end'of the slot 19a. T he. lower'eiid portion of the gauge-line 16 is inserted in the slot 19a to lie against the inner end of the slot; and a fast thereto by a set-screw 20a, the lower end of the line being inserted in the slot 19a and its lower extremity engaging in the notch 19b with said collar 20 contacting the upper surface of the plate 19, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. Jam nuts 21 may be provided on the rod '14 to bind the rod' in its adjusted positions to maintain the line 16 taut.

The gauge-line 16 is to be provided with marking 22, which may be" of contrasting colors, spaced apart a:.distance equal to each course. of brick or block,. thus eliminating the manual marking of courses by movable cordlines. and the frequent inspection by the mason tornaintain-his'proper spacing of courses. 7

In the use of the present invention, the mason will have established the outside corner point p for the corner of two angularly disposed walls y and, as is the custom, will have laid several courses of brick or the like'z in the usual manner at the corner. The slotted. anchor plate 19 is then inserted into a horizontal: mortared joint with the open end of the slot 19a outermost and with the inner end of the slot 19a directly at andv aligned with the established corner p, thereby intersecting the vertical line of said corner. The supporting arm 10 is then carried to any upper floor, roof or beam set the skeletonized struc ture B and placed adjacent tothe corner, tobe erected, with its foot portion b resting thereupon and counterweighed in any suitable manner, or as above described, and with the lower end of the rod 14 pointing downwardly and overlying the corner point p. Should the building frame structure have a corner column or post k, as is now customary, the foot extension 11 will be employed and, as generally indicated in Figure 4, by pivoting the arm 10 and the extension 11 about the stud 12 and/ or sliding the stud 12 in the slot 1012, the passage in the rod 14 can be placed in proper vertical coincident alignment withthe corner point p. This may be quickly and easily accomplished by clamping the upper end of the gauge-line 16 of proper length in the passage 15 of the rod 14, as above described, and attaching a plumb-bob on the lower end of theline 16 to plumb the rod 14-with the corner point p; then removing the bob and inserting the loweri end of the' line 16 in theslot 19a, in the manners previously described, and then finally adjusting the rod 14, by means of 'its winged-end 14a, to place the gauge-line 16 under sufficient tension to make and maintain it taut, so that the line- 16 will lie coincident with the wall corner and act as a gauge to which the corner edges of subsequently laid brick or the'like will contact. Another man.- ner for setting the arm 10 and plumbing the line 16: is, after the anchor plate 19 has been set, to insert the lower end of the line 16 into its slot 19a (as above described), then fasten the line 16 to the rod 14, as above described, and then plumb the taut line with a surveyors transit instrument or with a spirit level by shifting the arm 10 as may be required to bring the gauge-line 16 coincident with the corner edge of the walls y, which has been initially started or erected, as shown in Figure 4.

ltwill thus be seen that the gauge-line needs to have gauging position until the entire corner has been erected, thereby saving the time of the mason in adjusting guides,

the frequent repeated use of spirit levels, straight-edges and the like to maintain a plumb corner, thus giving the mason more time for the actual laying of brick, stone or block.

til

From the above, it is manifest that the objects of the invention are attained by the device herein shown and described, and that the device is simple, economical, easy to use and positive in operation for its use.

Having described the present invention and the manner in which it is to be performed, it. is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact form of construction herein shown and described, as it is susceptible to various modificationsrwhich fall within the scope of the appended claims.

That which is claimed, as new and to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. An adjustable supporting andtensioning device for a vertical corner gauge-line used in erecting masonry structures, said device comprising a rigid bar-shaped member having its opposite end portions offset to lie in spaced planes andits intermediate portion angularly disposed between saidplanes, one'of said end portions forminga gauge-line supporting arm and the other forming a supporting base for said device, an elongated rod threadedly supported in and substantially normal to the plane of said gauge-line. supporting arm, means for threadedly ad- 5 justing said rod relative to said arm, and means. at one end of said rod for releasably' attaching a gauge-line axially thereto. a v

2. An adjustable supporting and tensioning device for a vertical corner gauge-line used in. erecting; masonry structures, said device comprising a rigid bar-shaped memher having its opposite end portions offset to lie inqspaced planes and. its intermediate portion angularly disposed between said planes, one of said end portions forming; a gauge-line supporting arm and the other forming. a supporting base for said device, an elongatedrod threadedly supported in and substantially normal to the planeiof said gauge-line supporting arm, means for threadedly adjusting said rod relative to said arm, means for attaching a gaugeline to one end of said rod, and an extension member at the outer end of said base portion of said device andhaving a laterally pivoted and relatively longitudinal sliding connection with said base and adapted to be fixedly secured to a supporting surface. 7

3. The subject matter of claim 1 wherein there is. an

' anchor member to which the other end ofthe gauge line;

is attachable, said member having an-open-ended slot therein to receive said gauge line and a notched edgeportion laterally disposed with respect to said sl'ot'.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS- Crocker Apr. 4,! .1950 

